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It鈥檚 a chilly April morning at St Jude鈥檚 Smith Campus. There are no classes today. Instead, the campus transformed into a vibrant hub of innovation, the halls filled with tables displaying a huge variety of incredible work from the students.  Over in the school鈥檚 dining hall, visitors, staff, students, guests, and even a local news station gather for the official opening of St Jude鈥檚 13^th Annual Science Day. 

鈥淭oday is a special day that brings together our entire community to celebrate innovation and creativity,鈥� says Mr Tsingay, St Jude鈥檚 Secondary School Headmaster in his opening speech. 鈥淥ver 50% of our secondary school students are pursuing science subjects. Today, we will see first-hand how they turn their ideas into solutions,鈥� he adds. 

Following the opening ceremony, Mr Tsingay invited everyone to explore the diverse projects and engage with the innovators. Projects included generating electricity out of potatoes, an automatic earthquake sensor, a solar-powered mower, a vacuum cleaner, and even a clever mouse trap from St Jude鈥檚 primary school students. 

鈥淲hat do you do with your bar of soap when it gets too small?鈥� asks Marko, pitching his soap recycling prototype. 鈥淭he most common solution is to simply throw it away. But we have developed a soap recycling machine that could save you on resources and money while conserving the environment,鈥� he adds.

Marko then proceeds to demonstrate how his prototype works, which involves grinding the soap leftovers, followed by boiling, chemical disinfection, and eventually cooling the final product into a 鈥榥ew鈥� bar of soap.

Since the first Science Day 13 years ago, students have set the bar higher and higher, coming up with innovative and creative solutions to challenges that they or their communities encounter in real life. At this year鈥檚 Science Day, students have capitalised on the rise of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop customised and highly efficient prototypes.

One such project is the 鈥淏ean Sorting Machine鈥� designed to reduce workload for farmers by automating the painstaking process of sorting and cleaning crops. 

鈥淥ne of the biggest challenges for farmers is maintaining the quality of their products through an efficient and consistent sorting process,鈥� says Veronica, one of the innovators of the project. To address the challenge, Veronica and her team designed and built a machine that could efficiently sort up to 150 kilograms in an hour. 

鈥淧otential updates to our machine include incorporating AI and laser technology to improve its efficiency in removing impurities,鈥� explains Veronica. 

Another highlight of the day was the creative application of art in conserving the environment through the recycling and reusing of waste products. Students turned discarded plastics, worn-out clothes, and even wood scraps into decorative items in a beautiful 鈥渢rash-to-treasure鈥� display.

The Science Day is a platform from which our students demonstrate their keen understanding of science principles to address problems they see around them, and we have seen outstanding ideas emerge from this school event over the years.  This year鈥檚 Science Day was partly sponsored by Edgar, an award-winning St Jude alum and founder of a start-up that recycles plastic waste into useful construction materials. Edgar showcased his prototype of plastic bricks at a St Jude鈥檚 Science Day as a student and continued to refine his idea to eventually launch his own company. 

鈥淲hen we started the Science Day competition 13 years ago, most projects were just made out of wood and glass鈥� reflects Mr Mcharo, St Jude鈥檚 Academic Senior Manager. 鈥淭oday, our students are demonstrating working models and turning their ideas to businesses. It鈥檚 a testament to the power of innovation and the opportunities brought alive by St Jude鈥檚 holistic approach to education,鈥� he adds proudly.